Readers, meet Rose Pilkington: her magic manipulation of colour and form has us all hot under the collar. And yes, Rose happens to have designed the cover for Twin issue XV, but we swear we’re not biased when we say you’re guaranteed to fall in love with her work. Designs are playful, bright and hypnotic; she creates graphics to be remembered and stand out. With previous clients that include Jamie XX, H&M and MTV, expect to see much much more of Pilkington in 2017.

On the only snowy day in January, photographer Joe Quigg headed to east London to hang out with Rose and capture the woman splashing colour into your life.

First off, the cover looks amazing! What was the inspiration behind the design?

It was actually a very open brief which is aways a treat be given. Becky wanted to work with an artist to create some bespoke graphics for both covers, so I made them abstract and vivid so as be eye catching.

Specifically, what is it about the colour pink that you find interesting?

I have a life long relationship with colour, but out of the whole spectrum its the one colour that my eye draws too the most, and I’m not entirely sure why. Though i’ve never connected to the colour by its usual association, being categorized typically as a ‘feminine’ colour, which in itself is growing to be an old fashioned connection. Looking at my body of work I can see how subconsciously its made its way into most of my projects, as it is a sort of go-too for me. Funnily enough ive had a client or two who has requested ‘not too much pink’ in the past. For me I mostly judge aesthetically pleasing imagery by way of colour, and I believe pink emits positive vibrations and is a both calming but mentally stimulating colour.

You have a very distinct aesthetic, how did your style develop? Was there a certain point where you felt you had discovered your voice?

Things really started falling into place in my final year at Central Saint Martins (Graphic Design / Moving Image) I was literally given the opportunity to focus soley on subjects, themes and ideas that fascinated me and it was one of my most inspired times. It was also when I started learning 3D software which changed and informed the way I made my work.

There’s always a sense of movement in your work – whether it’s colour fades or through organic forms – what interests you about creating images that convey a sense of change?

Its hard to say, I think those sorts of visual decisions are instinctive, as is my approach to colour. I’m also constantly switching between moving image and still projects, so maybe that also has a part to play in it somewhere.

Entitled ‘Auroratone’, Rose’s work is not only beautiful, it has been made with healing in mind. Citing Cecil Stokes, an experimental filmmaker from the 1940s as a loose inspiration – whose psychadellic 16mm abstract films were said to improve the mental state of emotionally fractured war veterans – Rose has keenly observed and subsequently utilised the historical link between colour and our state of mind.

By deftly using a combination of varying practices, from optical illusion to 2D and 3D techniques, her work is as transportive as it is visually pleasing. In a world – creatively speaking – that is for the most part hell bent on paring back and minimalism, it’s refreshing to be confronted by such unapologetic and uplifting “eye-candy” pieces.

“Creating these abstracted cavernous landscapes with colourful curves and soft shapes I wanted to assault the senses of the viewer,” says Rose, “impacting their eyes with colour and form, provoking them to feel stimulated by the colour surrounding them. By forcing colour to the forefront of our consciousness, some connection to it becomes apparent and a response is evoked that infiltrates the emotions.”